How do you get a job in Delaware? (Dover, Middletown: job market, landscaping)

[Kimberly0079]

Hello all,

I am from Chester, Pa and moved to Delaware almost ten years ago. To this day, I cannot find full time employment in the field of Social Services. I will have my Master's Degree in Social Work in another year and a half. How come it seems impossible to obtain full time employment here? Please post your comments, thoughts, and ideas. I welcome all advice.

Thanks,

Kimberly

[newmassphd]

Hello,

May I ask about the process and or way you are currently looking for work?
Are you using job web-sites? Direct contacts? Or people in your network?

Over how broad an area geographically are you looking for work?

[John13]

Originally Posted by Kimberly0079

Hello all,

I am from Chester, Pa and moved to Delaware almost ten years ago. To this day, I cannot find full time employment in the field of Social Services. I will have my Master's Degree in Social Work in another year and a half. How come it seems impossible to obtain full time employment here? Please post your comments, thoughts, and ideas. I welcome all advice.

Thanks,

Kimberly

It's not just Delaware. It's very tough for most people currently in the job market to find any gainful employment, period. Too few jobs and fierce competition for what is available.

[nuts2uiam]

I am afraid that many jobs are cyclical in need. Back about 20 odd years ago a teaching job in NY was beyond impossible, today they are not as bad particularly in certain fields.

I am sorry to ask this bu.t why are you currently pursuing a masters in a filed that you clearly already know you can't find a job in? I might suspend that degree for now. until I became gainfully employed.

[Errin1]

Keep your nose to the grindstone and make sure your resume is updated. Seek employment in nearby states and don't stop hustling. Things are tough all over but you can't get discouraged. Things have a way of working out as long as you stay focused. I wish you luck in your job search.

[PJ1252]

Good luck with that I moved here 4 years ago and to date haven't been able to get a job either. I even applied for cashier jobs without luck. I have found medical care for myself and my pets well below average although I'm paying the same of these visits or more. I'm very sorry I moved here and I am seriously considering moving back.

[Seaponies]

Originally Posted by PJ1252

Good luck with that I moved here 4 years ago and to date haven't been able to get a job either. I even applied for cashier jobs without luck. I have found medical care for myself and my pets well below average although I'm paying the same of these visits or more. I'm very sorry I moved here and I am seriously considering moving back.

Hi PJ - Sorry to hear that you are unable to find a job. Have you tried applying to the Dover Target since you are near there ? Or some of the other large chain stores there ? Indeed.com also seems to have many jobs located in Dover. I don't know if Dover is reachable for you from Magnolia ?

[PJ1252]

Originally Posted by Seaponies

Hi PJ - Sorry to hear that you are unable to find a job. Have you tried applying to the Dover Target since you are near there ? Or some of the other large chain stores there ? Indeed.com also seems to have many jobs located in Dover. I don't know if Dover is reachable for you from Magnolia ?

Yes its right next door. I must admit I haven't tried Target but I have tried local grocery stores and other retail outlets. Thank you.

[newmassphd]

Originally Posted by Kimberly0079

Hello all,

I am from Chester, Pa and moved to Delaware almost ten years ago. To this day, I cannot find full time employment in the field of Social Services. I will have my Master's Degree in Social Work in another year and a half. How come it seems impossible to obtain full time employment here? Please post your comments, thoughts, and ideas. I welcome all advice.

Thanks,

Kimberly

Hello Kimberly,

I hope my message does not come across as terse or condescending.
My intent is to relay information that will hopefully be of value.

Is your Bachelors degree training also in social work?

In what area of the MSW are you specializing?

Do you have any certifications
- Substance Abuse Counseling?
- Co Occurring disorders
- mental health counseling
- I forget what it is called but the certification for guidance counselors for K-12 school children

Did you serve in the military?

Are you fluent or at least functional in a second language (Spanish, Hebrew, Russian, Portuguese)

Do you have any medical training- physical therapy, movement science, or any allied health discipline
as part of your bachelors degree?

Do you have any vocational training- Certified Nursing Assistant?

I ask all these things because I find people often have fantastic backgrounds for a job
but are not highlighting them as they could.

I've never believed in the notion of a generic resume. A resume should be custom to the
job area (good) or even the specific job (better) to which you are applying.
Think of your resume as a marketing "sell sheet" whose purpose is to get you an interview.

The sole purpose of a resume is to get an interview.
The purpose of the interview is to get you the job.

In your resume, don't just list your skill set and expect an employer to marvel at how
fantastic you are. You must describe what your experience and skills mean to the employer.
It is important that you spell it out and not expect the person reading your resume to do so.

For example, suppose you ran a small landscaping company off hours, only cut grass on the
weekend, and had 2 part-time employees. What does that mean?
- you are creative: describe how you advertised to get clients
- you are organized and responsible: you managed schedules, did the accounting, and payroll functions
- good interpersonal skills: resolve customer disputes (make customer happy)

Now this is just an example, but it is important to examine your experience points on your
resume and include a narrative that answers the question "why should I hire you?"

Make sure to also describe if there is anything that makes you unique?

If you speak a second language, that is a huge advantage in social services that contact
the population who speak that language.

If you have any certification, it boosts your suitability for certain positions.

I would recommend that you make your resumes more custom to either the type
of position or the specific job.

The Amazon fulfillment center in Middletown is hiring right now.
I have no relationship or benefit from Amazon. I signed up and went on a tour
of the center as I am interested in operations management and supply chain.
As I understand you work 4 x 10 so getting a shift advantageously could position you
to have days free during the week to pursue something directly related to your training.

As others have stated, try not to get discouraged. Many cases I've found that people
often need just a little fine tuning here and there on their resume and the process they follow
for obtaining employment.

[SittinInATree]

Are you wanting to get a job with the state of DE? Yes that is hard! I have a little "trick" for you to try when filling out your applications. A robot will be which apps make it through to a real person. The only way to get past the robot is to include key words from the application into your responses. So if the question is, "How have you personally helped a chicken cross the street on a Wednesday?" (sorry this is the best I can do right now haha). Your response should pretty much convert that question into a full sentence, EVEN if it sounds redundant. "I have personally helped a chicken cross the road on many Wednesdays by......". Get it? Hope this helps! Even if you do get your app into a real person's hands, you have to then hope they aren't just hiring from within, or someone's sister, or best friend from middle school. Good luck!